The present invention relates generally to hospital equipment and relates more particularly to a ceiling mounted support for patient monitoring equipment. Although the support may be utilized for a variety of types of equipment, it has been developed primarily for infusion pumps and solution containers.
Infusion pumps for metering and monitoring the flow of intravenous solutions to a hospital patient are widely used. The pumps are conventionally mounted on a portable roller stand which in use is positioned by a patient's bedside. The stand serves to support the solution container above the pump for initial gravity flow of solution to the pump, and further supports the pump at a convenient level for setup and monitoring during use. Since the infusion pumps are fairly heavy, on the order of ten pounds, and since the pump and the solutions together are located at a substantial height above the floor, the stand necessarily requires substantial supporting legs in order to provide the necessary degree of stability. A typical stand includes six legs radiating from the hub, much like the spokes of a wheel.
Although conventional roller-type infusion pump stands serve their intended purpose, they occupy a considerable amount of room in the already crowded area at a patient's bedside. In many cases, a patient requires the use of a number of accessory devices at the same time, most of which are brought into position on roller stands. Because of the substantial width of the stand bases required for stability, the feet of the several stands limit the number of stands which can be placed by a given bedside and in addition, restrict access to the patient.